The mission of the Larimer County Open Lands
Program is to preserve and protect significant open space, natural areas,
wildlife habitat, develop parks and trails for present and future
generations. These open lands provide opportunities for leisure, human
renewal and protection of our natural and cultural resources.

Present:

Open Lands Board Members:

Sue Sparling

Jim White

Jean Carpenter

Peter Kast

Ben Manvel

Nancy Wallace

Don Griffith

Ted Swanson

Staff

Gary Buffington

Jerry White

Meegan Flenniken

Windy Kelley

K-Lynn Cameron

Charlie Johnson

Emily Saeli

Jeffery Boring

Absent:

Bill Newman

Brian Hayes

Bob Streeter

Bill Pinkham

Chair, Peter Kast called the meeting to order at 5:15 p.m.

Sue motioned to approve the June minutes. Jim seconded and
the motion passed unanimously.

PUBLIC COMMENT

No public comment

INFORMATION ITEMS

·
Randy Eubanks was sworn in on July 18 as the new County Commissioner
for District 2.

·
Fort Collins City Council will consider a donation of $90,000 toward
Hermit Park on August 21, 2007.

·
COSA Conference. See Handout. Kerri- noted the conference is
expanding to 3 days due to demand for repeating several of the popular
sessions. Peter and Sue will attend on behalf of the board. Jim White is an
alternate.

·
LTA Rally update: free landowner seminar from Steve Small
entitled “Preserving Family Lands: Protecting field trip has the most
registrants (11 total so far) of all 12 trips offered!

BOARD COMMENT:

Using the existing transferable
development unit (TDU) program at Fossil Creek as an example, Russ provided an
introduction on how the Planning Department is working to create a TDU program
for property around LaPorte and Red Feather Lakes. A transferable development
program is a land-use tool designed to preserve open space by transferring
development rights from one parcel (sending area) to another (receiving area). The
Planning Department is working with both the LaPorte and Red Feather Lakes
communities as to whether or not they are interested in participating in a TDU
program.

Jill said they are in the third
planning phase of the TDU process for the LaPorte and Red Feather Lakes
communities. Presently, the LaPorte community advisory board has not agreed on
a vision for the future development and/or land management of their area. The
LaPorte advisory board is thinking through how they want the river corridor to
look into the future, as this is a primary value to the community. Jill noted
that LaPorte has an existing zoning pattern; however the parcel sizes are not
equal.

The community advisory board for Red
Feather Lakes has not reached an agreement either, however they have fewer
expectations for where they want to see development. The open zoning (10 acre
lots minimum for agriculture and residential use) around Red Feather Lakes is
beneficial for the TDU program, because all of the lots are equal in size. Jill
added both communities are interested in a “free market” conservation method,
where transactions and issues are handled between buyers and sellers without
too much influence from the county.

Russ explained they have asked both
communities if there are areas they want to preserve as sending areas. He noted
both communities are able to identify sending areas, but it is more difficult for
communities to identify receiving areas.

Peter asked whether or not the units
of exchange can only occur between the communities of Red Feather Lakes and Laporte
under the new TDU program? Russ said the plan is flexible. For example if a
sender from the Fossil Creek area wants to send a TDU to LaPorte, discussions can
take place between the two communities. He noted if this was to occur it would
be an amendment to the program.

·
Draft: Hermit Park Management Plan. See handout. Meegan recapped
where we are in the Hermit Park Open Space Management planning
process and highlighted a few key points from each section of the management
plan.

Meegan explained sensitive areas
will be interpreted from a distance to protect the sensitive species/resource
(ex. Rocky Mountain cinquefoil and the wetlands). She added we are working with
the Colorado Division of Wildlife to create an elk management plan which will
include hunting management on Hermit Park Open Space. The management plan also
addresses the relocation of the corrals to camp area #3 which would be
zoned for equestrian camping. The county is working with a consulting firm,
EDAW, to address programming questions related to recreation facilities at
Hermit Park. Hermit Park Open Space will have to
meet the County Planning codes and regulations and go through
the special review process.

Meegan noted the cabins must meet
county building codes before they can be rented to the public and these
improvements are underway. The shower house and bandshell do
not meet county building code and will be removed, although in
the master plan there will be new shower houses installed within the campground
areas over time. Parking is a primary concern and
several options are being explored with EDAW. Additionally, improvements to the
entrance will
include adding a left hand turn lane on Hwy 36, better circulation, and
entrance station and a visible entrance sign to the highway.

There will be an internal trail
system accessed via a series of small trailheads – one at theoverlook, one
at the Hermit’s Cabin, one in the vicinity of the group use area, and one near
campground #3 or #4. The trailhead at the Hermit’s Cabin will also
include a small amphitheater for educational purposes. There will
not be access within the cabin, because it does not
meet county structural standards, rather it will be interpreted from
the outside. The Line Shack is
structurally sound and will be accessed via a boardwalk from the group use area
for educational purposes. The ~ 5-mile on-site trail
system will connect to the existing Untied States Forest Service (USFS)
Homestead Meadows 12-mile trail. Windy is working with the United States Forest
Service to complete the NEPA process for creating a trail to Kruger Rock.

During the public meetings we
heard a need to have RV and tent camping separated. We are working with EDAW to
locate the best sites for RV’s to meet their needs (i.e. slope of terrain).

Ted expressed equestrian use is
commonly lower on multi-use trails due to horses being “spooked.” Meegan said
with an entrance fee to the park, trail use is not anticipated to be too high.
Don suggested a formal and thorough emergency service medical plan be
implemented and enforced. Meegan noted that an emergency plan is
required in the special planning process and we are working on an
emergency access agreement with Meadowdale Ranch.

The next public meetings will be
open houses for Hermit Park Open Space, on Aug 30th in EstesPark and September
6thin Loveland, both from 5-7 p.m.

·
Draft: Red Mountain Open Space Management Plan. See handout.
Meegan recapped where we are in the Red Mountain Management planning process
and provided an overview for how the management plan is organized. She
explained that the management plan was developed around conservation targets
that are important to protect at Red Mountain Open Space. The plan addresses
what is significant about the ecological, cultural and western heritage
resources that exist at Red Mountain Open Space. For example, one of the
most significant ecological conservation targets is the mountain mahogany
shrubland community. To protect this community, users will be
required to remain on developed trails unless they are granted a
Special Use Permit which will consider timing, frequency and duration of requested
appropriate activities.Meegan continued
by stating the western side of the Big Hole is the least fragmented portion of
the open space and has some of the highest ecological and cultural
resource values.

Meegan addressed the second
conservation target, cultural heritage by noting we were aware of over a 100 archeological
sites
via our cultural resource surveys in 2006 and 2007. By
concentrating use on the trails we hope to minimize the impact to these
archeological sites. Additionally, we will locate trails at least 30 meters
from known sites. We hope to partner with the Colorado
Archeological Society to monitor the arroyos in-case other
artifacts surface.

Livestock grazing will be
maintained on the property working with adjacent landowners as lessees or in a
grass banking situation. With the goal of protecting the riparian areas (i.e.
weeds, water quality, etc.) we are looking to develop several springs to
provide drinking water to cattle.Currently 125 AUM
graze
the entire open space on a rotation system. Meegan
reminded everyone that one of the main goals for Red Mountain Open Space is to
continue livestock
grazing and to preserve the western
heritage.

The final target Meegan addressed
is the proposed recreation activities on the open space. County Road 21 will be
the primary access road to the trailhead and from there over 12 miles of
trails will be provided.
We
are proposing to have one 2.5-mile hiking only trail, and a
series of loops with varying levels of difficulty. The county’s property will
have a total of 12 – 14 miles of trail, while the City of Fort Collins
anticipates they will have about 30 miles of trail. The proposed trailhead at
Red Mountain Open Space was designed working with a professional landscape
architect. The maximum build-out capacity of the trailhead is 50 cars and 15
parking spaces for horse trailers; however the initial phasing will be for 30
vehicles/10 horse trailer spaces. We will have a base of
operations with a maintenance garage and an efficiency living area. This
facility will be located near the trailhead, but tucked away to preserve views.

Meegan highlighted why we will not
offer backcountry camping (at least initially). Reasons included the lack of
water and high winds. Gary added fire is also a concern. Meegan said we are
still moving forward to not allow dogs on the open space. She noted that after
proposing not allowing dogs at the first public meeting and in subsequent
published materials, there we have only received one comment
opposed to not allowing dogs at Red Mountain. The next public meeting is an
open house on Thursday, August 16th from 4 – 8 p.m.

DIRECTORS REPORT

·
Gary – The Parks Advisory Board had their second board meeting on
Tuesday, July 2nd. The board has two new members. Gary also noted
the new Weed Management Building open house is Friday, July 27th and
Saturday, July 28th.

EXECUTIVE SESSION: (24-6-402(4)
(a) C.R.S. Purchase, acquisition, lease, transfer or sale of any real or
personal property interest. Ted moved to go
in to Executive Session at 7:23 pm, Jim
seconded and the motion carried unanimously.

The meeting was adjourned by a motion from Ted. The
motion was seconded by Sue and carried
unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 8:02 pm